Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Based on the 1998 off-Broadway show, this film was written and directed by James Cameron Mitchell (Shortbus) who also stars as the film’s transgendered lead. As with Shortbus, Mitchell uses an explicit plotline as a vehicle for a more subtle tender story of love and intimacy.

The film follows Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a band of Korean-born army wives as they attempt to make a living playing in coffee shops and bars in southern USA. Hedwig, an East German transsexual with a penchant for androgynous glam rock and philosophical ideologies, fronts the group as their final tour dates are interwoven with glimpses of her troubled past. Starting out her life as Hansel Schmidt, the young Hedwig falls in love with an American soldier and after a brief gummy-bear fuelled romance the couple are to be married. One botched attempt at a sex-change later, leaving Hedwig with the aforementioned useless “Angry Inch” of skin between her legs, the couple are married and relocate to Kansas. The relationship’s rapid demise forces a lonely Hedwig, abandoned in a backwater trailer park, to channel her pain into rock songs performed by her and accompanied by her band of fellow rejects.

Running parallel to their tour dates are that of rock superstar Tommy Gnosis, a young Christian boy once loved by Hedwig before he sought solo fame with her songs. The almost ethereal star has a dominant presence in the form of memories and dreams until the pair’s troubled past and theatrical reunion, results in the film’s heady ambiguous climax.

Although not a musical in the strictest sense, the songs provide the greatest insight into the core philosophical themes of the film, ‘Origin of Love’ in particular. This song, based on Aristophanes’ speech in Plato’s Symposium, tells the story of everyone’s search for their other half whether they be gay, lesbian or heterosexual and how sexuality came to be, a recurring theme throughout. The rest of the impressive song list, written by Stephen Trask (Dreamgirls) for the stage show, somehow manages to combine witty philosophical lyrics with a punk-rock backing. Aided by accompanying visual interpretations, the songs translate well to the screen and are the main reason for my strong recommendation of this film and repeated checking of any UK theatre that may show it in its full real-life glory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzX7SP1NkAg 

Other directorial work from Cameron Mitchell includes the music video for Scissor Sisters’ “Filthy/Gorgeous” and Rabbit Hole, the 2010 film starring Nicole Kidman, both worth a watch.